Peter Appleton is a script writer during the 1950's who is suspected to be a Communist among many Hollywood film people (which is not true). Along the way, he gets into a freak car accident and suffers amnesia, then ends up in a small California town. There he lives in a run down movie theater where he learns the magic of experiencing a movie in it. Soon, the Communist hunters find him and call him to testify before a Senate hearing committee.